prioritising the elements in historic - journal of engineering

JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE, VOL. 66, NO. 6, DEC. 2019, PP. 749-769

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, CAIRO UNIVERSITY

IMAGE OF THE CITY: PRIORITISING THE ELEMENTS IN HISTORIC

AND NEW URBAN SETTLEMENETS OF CAIRO, EGYPT

S. ELFIKI1

ABSTRACT

“Image of the city” is a commonly used term that structures people’s perception

of the spatial organisation and visual form of cities. In the nineteen-fifties, Lynch

developed a model of five objective elements that collectively shape people’s

perception to the image of cities, which is still widely acknowledged in recent

research. The main concluded elements are paths, edges, districts, nodes and

landmarks. The image of a city is dynamic and ever-changing. The present study

investigates the way people prioritise the role of these five elements in shaping the

mental images of old and new urban settlement in Cairo, Egypt. After setting the

theoretical framework, the study employs a survey that involved 74 participants, to

investigate their perception of the elements that characterise the image of ‘Historic

Cairo’ and ‘New Cairo’. The outcome of the survey is quantitatively analysed by 2descriptive analyses, cross tabulations and analyses of variance, to identify the most

influential elements in both contexts, and their relations to the studied sample.

Landmarks were most influential upon people’s perception to the image in both

contexts. Edges were the least important in ‘Historic Cairo’, while nodes were the least

in ‘New Cairo’. This should help local architects, urban designers and city planners to

develop the built environment in a way that better responds to people’s priorities.

KEYWORDS: Image of the city; Paths; Edges; Districts; Nodes; Landmarks; Cairo –

Egypt.

1. INTRODUCTION

Kevin Lynch is one of the twentieth century key-figures in environmental

design and behavioural studies, particularly as applied to the field of urban design and

city planning [1]. In the nineteen-fifties, he developed extended studies about central

areas in Los Angeles, Boston and Jersey City, USA. These studies aimed at

understanding the way people perceive the image of cities, and what may promote

cities’ imageability.

1 Department of Architectural Engineering and Environmental Design Arab Academy for Science, Technology

and Maritime Transport, Cairo – Egypt, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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He concluded that environmental images link people to places, and give them a

sense of identity and emotional security. The outcome of his studies was primarily

manifested in five objective elements that formulate a city’s image, as explained in

detail under the subsequent section ‘3. The Model’ hereunder.

This model gains extended recognition for that it addresses the image of the city

as a combination between objective elements in the city and the individual perception

of its residents. It suggests that a well-designed city image can improve the sense of

identity and security, as well as helping easier navigation around the urban landscape

of the cities [2, 3].

Although Lynch’s model was developed more than fifty years ago, it remains

highly credible to the extent that a large number of recent research papers, books and

academic theses build on it, covering a wide spectrum of specialties like environment

and behaviour, cognitive psychology, urban design, tourism development, computer

applications, cinematography, and many more.

It is interesting that the Journal of the American Planning Association is

dedicating its entire autumn 2018 issue to “Envisioning City Design: The Legacy of

Kevin Lynch” [4].

Some researchers studied Lynch’s theory itself, its origins, validity and possible

means of development. For example, Sidanin’s paper has undertaken extended

analyses to the Lynchian and post-Lynchian theories in urban design [5]. While

Ashmore concluded that Lynch’s approach and methodology are valid for application

in New Urbanist environments [6]. Yet, Damayanti has developed an extension to

Lynch’s theory by introducing social interpretations to his five elements [3].

On another hand, some studies applied Lynch’s model to different case studies

around the world, e.g. India, Korea, Malysia, UK and many others [7 - 10].

Nevertheless, other scholars have examined the application of Lynch’s model to

different disciplines. For example, Quercia and his partners took Lynch’s work to

examine the reflections of city image upon mental health [11]. In a different sense,

Nasar also built on the work of Kevin Lynch to explore the role of human evaluations

to cityscape upon creating more pleasant cities to the residents [12]. Where Topcu’s

IMAGE OF THE CITY: PRIORITISING THE ELEMENTS IN HISTORIC ….

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study addressed the visual representation of mental images in urban design, following

Lynch’s work [13]. At a methodological and conceptual level, Pearce and Fagence

outlined the potential contribution of Lynch’s model in tourism development [14].

When it comes to arts, Raynsford explored the origins of Lynch’s model from

the perspective of civic arts [15]. Likewise, in filmmaking and cinematography, Liu

analysed the characteristics of Chinese films and TV plays using Lynch’s model [16].

In terms of technology and computer applications, Al-Ghamdi and Al-Harigi

used Lynch’s model to track the impact of technology on the observer and the

observed within contemporary cities [17]. More interestingly, Jiang has developed a

process by which the image of the city can be quantitatively derived automatically

using computer technology and its geo-spatial databases [18]. Seitinger used Lynch’s

model to explore the possible impact of using programmable and responsive LED-

based lighting and displays upon social communication and urban aesthetics [19].

By all means, this is not meant to be a comprehensive review of the literature

about Lynch’s work. It is rather a brief journey around some recent and interesting

pieces of work in diverse disciplines to confirm that Lynch’s model is being widely

used until present time, and can therefore be adopted in the present study.

However, due to the nature of today’s cities, people’s perception of their city

images can be depicted as a dynamic ever-evolving process. Nowadays cities keep

transforming and changing in a complex fashion, to accommodate the changes in

functions and meanings, as well as the poetic and symbolic imagery Lynch highlighted

[2, 6, 20, 21].

2. METHODOLOGY

The present study is meant to explore empirically how people prioritise the

elements of city image in historic and modern urban settlements – as applied to Cairo,

Egypt. It builds on the five elements outlined by Lynch and subsequent studies;

namely paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks [2]. After introducing the model

in-study briefly, the empirical part starts by explaining the process of questionnaire

design, sampling, pilot testing, means of communication and methods for quantitative

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analyses. This includes descriptive statistics “frequencies”, cross tabulations and

analyses of variance – ANOVA. The outcome of the survey analyses is then discussed

in the light of preceding literature to learn about the most influential elements that

shape people’s perception to the image of Cairo in both contexts, and with reference to

different participant groups.

3. THE MODEL

Lynch has developed a profound approach to analyse and improve the visual

forms of cities. He describes the city as an interrelated connection of paths, edges,

districts, nodes and landmarks. He defines paths as continuous, identifiable and

directional elements with clear starting and ending points, like streets, sidewalks, trails

and other channels in which people may travel. On the other hand, edges are

continuous visible boundaries that separate two districts, and may be exemplified in by

highways, rivers or lines along which two regions are joined together. The same model

defines districts as fairly large sections of a city, which share a common identity or

character. Where nodes are strategic focal points that people may pass through, like

squares, piazza and junctions. They should not necessarily be defined by a strict

physical form but may sometimes be represented by concentrations of some use, as a

street-corner hangout. At last, landmarks are unique characteristic reference points,

such as buildings, signs, stores that are memorable in the urban context [2]. The

forthcoming analyses will build on the same definitions.

4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is based on exploring how people prioritise the elements of city

image in historic and modern urban settlements in Cairo, Egypt. Therefore, it was

decided to set ‘Historic Cairo’ and ‘New Cairo’ as two main foci for the present study.

Due to its significance, ‘Historic Cairo’ is defined in detail by Law 119/2008.

Its northern boundaries are Ramsis square, Kamel Sedki street, El-Khalig El-Masri

street, Azab Pasha street, El-Dhaher square, Tour Sinai street, Port Said street, El-


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Gaish square, El-Halabi square, El-Mansouria street, Salah Salem road, El-Ferdous

square, Prince Gergamash street, Nasr Abu El-Farag street and the Autostrad [22].

The same source defines the eastern boundaries as the Autostrad, El-Mokattam

mound, Hassan Hamada street, Sidi Abu Rommana street, El-Khala street and the

Autostrad again. While the southern boarders started with the Autostrad, then Abu El-

Hagr street, El-Ghafari street until El-Fustat and Nile Cornish.

At last, the west of Historic Cairo is bound by Nile Cornish, Salah Salem road,

Magra El-Oyoun, Fom El-Khalig, El-Sadd El-Barrani street, Youssef El-Sebaie street,

El-Nassereya street, Abdeen street, Hassan Akbar street, Dar El-Ketab street,

Mohamed Ali street, Attaba square, El-Ruwai’e street, Clout Bek street and Ramsis

square [22]. The overall area of ‘Historic Cairo’ was reported to be around 32,000 km2

[23]. This is shown in Fig. 1 hereunder.

On the other hand, ‘New Cairo’ was founded in accordance with the

Presidential Decree number 191/2000. It extended over an area of 70,000 acres to the

east of Cairo and was meant to encompass several residential districts. It is bound by

the Ring Road to the west, Cairo/Suez road to the north and El-Kattameya/El-Ain El-

Sokhna road to the south and east [24]. Figure 2 shows a map of ‘New Cairo’ as

described below.

Fig. 1. ‘Historic Cairo’ map [23]. Fig. 2. ‘New Cairo’ map [24].

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5. QUESTOINNAIRE DESIGN

Questionnaires are widely accepted for collecting comparable data from

particular populations [25].

The present questionnaire is designed in three main sections, following a brief

introduction to the survey, its objectives and privacy policy. Section I was meant with

personal information. Writing the names in this section was intentionally left optional,

in order to maintain privacy of participants and to encourage them giving their full free

opinions. However, they were still required to identify their gender, age group, level of

education and average monthly income – to help with cross-tabulation analyses to

follow.

The second section was about identifying the elements that shape the image of

‘Historic Cairo’. After introducing a brief definition to the boundaries of the area in-

study, the survey questions the degree of familiarity of participants with the place,

again – to help with cross-tabulation analyses. Afterwards, and in the same section,

respondents were required to name five main features / places that visually

characterise the image of ‘Historic Cairo’ in their minds. The last section III applies

the exact same structure of section II with reference to ‘New Cairo’.

6. PILOT TESTING

A pilot study is an initial small-scale test to the feasibility of procedures that are

intended to be applied to a larger scale [26]. In the present research, a pilot study took

place prior to the questionnaire distribution. It was carried out by 7 randomly chosen

respondents, who are not part of the main sample. The questions showed to be clear,

and the average answering time was 6 minutes and 25 seconds. This confirmed the

feasibility of the survey to extract worthwhile information for statistical analyses.

7. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

Online surveys are known to provide meaningful information from reasonably

sized samples over a relatively short time-span [24].


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The survey took place in November 2018. It was published digitally in a self-

administered Google form [27]. The web-link was further promoted via Facebook

pages, personal contacts and snowballing techniques, as explained hereunder.

8. THE SAMPLE

The present study undertakes multi-stage sampling. It begins with random

sampling to give every member in the population an equal opportunity to take part in

the survey [25]. However, it is important to note that computer literacy could constrain

the complete equal access, though the widespread of smart phones and availability of

internet all around may limit the impact of this constraint.

Snow-ball techniques helped extend the sample, as participants were requested

to encourage their own networks to take part in the survey. Snowballing is known to

be an effective and fast technique for building-up a reasonable-sized sample [25].

The overall number of participants was 91, being of different genders, age-groups,

income averages and degrees of familiarity with the areas in-study. 17 participants

were excluded from the sample due to incompletion or irrelevance of the answers they

provided. Hence, the final sample size concluded to 74 participants. Denscombe

quotes “Whatever the theoretical issues, the simple fact is that surveys and sampling

are frequently used in small-scale involving between 30 and 250 cases” [25: p. 24].

This confirms that this sample size is sufficient for the purpose of the study.

The graph in Fig. 3 below shows that the number of male participants 32 is

slightly less than female participants 42. This suggests are reasonably balanced sample

in terms of gender. On the other hand, Fig. 4 resembles a bell-like curve, with the

largest number of participants aging 40-49 equating to 29 participants. However, the

suggested bell-curve is slightly skewed towards younger groups. It is also interesting

that the number of participants aging 60 or more, with a total number of 9 participants,

was higher than the 50-59 group which was represented by 7 participants only. This

can be an effect of the undertaken snow-ball sampling.

Both Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 below show that the less educated groups 6 with the least

average income 9 were the least involved, while the largest segment of participants

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were post-graduate degree holders 36, with the highest category of average monthly

income 39. This can be due to their level of interest in the topic.

Fig. 3. Number of male/female

participants.

Fig. 4. Number of participants per

age groups.

Fig. 5. Number of male / female

participants.

Fig. 6. Number of participants per

average monthly income.

The following Figs. 7 and 8 show the degree of familiarity with ‘Historic Cairo’

and ‘New Cairo’ respectively. It is clear that the distribution of categories is more

uniform in ‘New Cairo’. The lack of vacant plots, the scarce opportunities for

developing new buildings/functions, the poor maintenance to existing buildings, the

traffic jam and shortage in parking places are all factors that repel people from living

in and visiting ‘Historic Cairo’.


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Fig. 7. Participants’ degree

of familiarity with

‘Historic Cairo’.

Fig. 8. Participants’ degree

of familiarity with

‘New Cairo’.

This comes in complete contrast with ‘New Cairo’, where huge investments are

being poured to develop massive residential and administrative projects that attract

residents, developers, businesses and leisure facilities – hence bringing over larger

numbers of residents and visitors.

9. PREPARING DATE FOR ANALYSES

After the survey results were automatically transferred from the Google

document to a Microsoft Excel sheet, the file was saved to a local drive under a

different name for coding and classification. A separate copy of the original sheet was

kept intact for possible future reference. First, any respondent who gave less than three

visual features – out of the required five – was excluded from the sample. Likewise,

answers that were or out of the studied scope were excluded too. Then, the features

named by respondents were all classified in accordance with Lynch’s five elements, as

defined above. The selected elements were then piled in five consecutive columns,

maintaining the order of given answers, assuming that the categories mentioned first

are more important to respondents, as a starting point. This assumption is further tested

in subsequent procedures of the present study.

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10. DATA ANALYSES PROCEDURES

The adopted method relates to quantitative paradigm. It involves a deductive

process that depends on measuring a particular phenomenon numerically and

objectively, assuming the researcher’s independence from the subject in inquiry [25].

First, descriptive statistics “frequencies” were used to summarize the deduced

data, as per both sites separately. This step was meant to find out which of the five

elements is more selected in either area.

This was initially based on the frequencies of the first choice, assuming that

importance can be based on earlier mentions. The findings are then compared against

the overall frequencies of selected elements, and with assigning a descending relative

weight to their overall frequencies, where the frequency of first selected elements is

multiplied by 5 and the fifth-choice frequencies are multiplied by 1. This is meant to

examine the validity of relying on first mentions in the subsequent cross tabulation and

correlation tests.

Afterwards, cross tabulation tests are run to investigate for possible choices

being done by particular groups of the involved sample. Whenever an apparent

difference is detected, it is double-checked by one-way ANOVA test “analyses of

variance” to examine any significant difference between the ratings of different

groups. This was applied in association with the Scheff post-hoc test due to the

multiplicity of studied groups. When the ANOVA significance factor is less than one

in twenty “p ≤ 0.05”, this indicates that there is a meaningful difference in the

perceptions of studied groups [25].

11. FREQUENCIES OF SELECTED ELEMENTS

The following section discusses the frequencies of selected elements, and how

they may represent people’s priorities in ‘Historic Cairo’ and in ‘New Cairo’. It first

discusses the frequencies outlined as a first choice. Then the sum-up of frequencies of

every element in the complete choices of all respondents is shown for either context.

Figure 9 and Table 1 below show that landmarks recorded the highest

frequency in ‘Historic Cairo’ – 59 out of the 74 participants. This was followed by a


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large gap, where paths are chosen by 8 participants only. The rest of elements came in

even less answers. This could be due to the intensity of historic monuments in the area.

Not only do people relate these places to personal memories, but they also have special

appreciation to their architectural, spiritual and symbolic values. For example, people

have repeatedly referred to some historic mosques and churches in their responses.

It is also interesting that edges are not mentioned as a first choice in ‘Historic

Cairo’ by any respondents at all, despite the symbolic significance of the Nile and the

functional role of other edges like Salah Salem Road and Ramsis Street, which are

major traffic axes in the City. However, this could be partly because the segment of

the River the bounds the studies area is relatively short, if compared to the length of

the segment cutting through the rest of the city.

Unlike ‘Historic Cairo’, discrepancies between people’s choices in ‘New Cairo’

were less – see Fig. 10 and Table 1 next. Although landmarks came first 33, the

subsequent elements counted 19 and 18. This makes the distribution of choices more

uniform. However, nodes were never set as a first choice to respondents, which

suggests that they are the least important to people in the context of ‘New Cairo’. This

can be further tested in the following section by working out the overall frequencies –

in the five choices of all participants – to find out whether it is a matter of priority or a

matter of principal importance.

Fig. 9. Frequencies of selected

elements in ‘Historic Cairo’.

Fig. 10. Frequencies of selected

elements in ‘New Cairo’.

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Table 1. Frequencies and order of first-selected elements

in ‘Historic Cairo’ and ‘New Cairo’.

Historic Cairo New Cairo

Frequency Order Frequency Order

District 6 3 18 3

Edge - 5 4 4

Landmark 59 1 33 1

Node 1 4 - 5

Path 8 2 19 2

The following Table 2 shows that the way people rank the five elements is

almost typical in both contexts. The only difference is the alternating ranking of edges

and nodes between fourth and fifth place in both contexts.

Table 2. Frequencies and order of overall selected elements in

‘Historic Cairo’ and ‘New Cairo’.


Frequency Order Frequency Order

District 57 2 82 2

Edge 6 5 10 4

Landmark 223 1 191 1

Node 15 4 3 5

Path 52 3 49 3

Comparing the findings of Table 1 to Table 2, the priority of landmarks 1,

nodes 4 and edges 5 in ‘Historic Cairo’ is unchanged as measured by the overall

frequency of the first choice. On another hand, the individual selection placed paths

second and districts third, while the overall frequency suggested a reversed order.

Likewise, in ‘New Cairo’, the priority of landmarks 1, edges 4 and nodes 5 in is

unchanged between the overall frequency and the first choice. While the individual

selection placed paths second and districts third, the overall frequency suggested that

district were more important.

To this point, depending on first mentions seems to be reasonably dependable.

However, in order not to ignore the significance of order as a possible indicator to

priority, the following section undertakes another step towards confirming/refuting this

assumption.


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12. RELATIVE WEIGHTS

This section is meant to take the analyses one step further. It tries to examine

the combined effect of order and frequencies together. It multiplies the frequency of

every first choice element by 5, every second choice by 4, and so forth until the

frequencies of the fifth and last choices are multiplied by 1. This is based on the

assumption that the elements mentioned first are more important to respondents.

As for ‘New Cairo’, Table 3 hereunder shows a typical order to Table 1 and

Table 2. Whereas for ‘Historic Cairo’ only the second and third ranks “paths and

districts” are altered. In both studied areas, landmarks were the most important to the

participant sample. It over-weighed the rest of elements by far. However, the least

important element showed to be edges in ‘Historic Cairo’ and nodes in ‘New Cairo’,

just as concluded by Table 1 and Table 2 earlier.

Table 3. Relative weight of selected elements in

‘Historic Cairo’ and ‘New Cairo’.


Weight Order Weight Order

District 146 3 267 2

Edge 15 5 33 4

Landmark 725 1 580 1

Node 40 4 7 5

Path 160 2 176 3

Therefore, the comparison between Tables 1, 2 and 3 shows that the assumption

of importance based on earlier mentions can be reasonably validated. It has typically

applied to all elements in ‘New Cairo’. Even in ‘Historic Cairo’, the first and last

elements showed to be the same. This suggests that the forthcoming analyses can

cautiously rely on this assumption.

13. CROSS-TABULATIONS AND CORRELATIONS

This section is meant to explore if there was a significant relationship between

different participant groups and a particular selection of elements. Towards this

objective, the study first runs cross tabulation tests. When a test shows some large

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differences in the distribution of elements amongst the tested groups, one-way

ANOVA tests – with Scheff post-hoc – are applied to check for statistical significance.

Although Fig. 11 below implies more selection of landmarks by females than

males in ‘Historic Cairo’, this apparent difference showed to be insignificant 0.53 in

the ANOVA test. Likewise, in ‘New Cairo’, Fig. 12, differences in male/female

selection comes highest in paths. Yet, the ANOVA test showed no significance 0.137

of such difference.

Fig. 11. Cross-tabulations for gender

vs. selected elements

in ‘Historic Cairo’.

Fig. 12. Cross-tabulations for gender

vs. selected elements in

‘New Cairo’.

Comparing the landmark choice by 40-46 year old participants, to that of the

20-29 years old, the difference seems vast in ‘Historic Cairo’, Fig. 13. Yet the

ANOVA test shows no significance to this difference. The differences within element

selections in ‘New Cairo’ seem even greater, particularly when looking at landmarks,

where the gap between 40-49 and 50-59; though with no statistical significance, see

Fig. 14.

It is also interesting that none of the 30-39 group has selected districts in

‘Historic Cairo’ despite their comparable representation in the rest of elements. This

looks even more eccentric in ‘New Cairo’, where edges are only referred to by 40-49

and 50-59 groups. It would be interesting to develop future studies to understand the

underlying forces behind such choices amongst the different age groups.


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Fig. 13. Cross-tabulations for age


in ‘Historic Cairo’.

Fig. 14. Cross-tabulations for age vs.

selected elements in

‘New Cairo’.

The following Fig. 15 suggests a large difference between the choice of

secondary degree holders to landmarks from their selection to other elements in

‘Historic Cairo’. The ANOVA test showed this difference to be highly significant p =

0.029. The same applies to university degree holders, whose choice of landmarks

yielded to a significance factor of 0.031. This is shown in Table 4 hereunder, as

extracted from SPSS.

Table 4. ANOVA output table for the correlation between

‘education’ and the choice of elements.

(I)

Education

(J)

Education

Mean

Difference

(I-J)

Std.

Error Sig.

95% Confidence Interval

Lower

Bound

Upper

Bound

1.0 2.0 -1.5313* .5612 .029 -2.934 -.128

3.0 -1.5000* .5562 .031 -2.891 -.109

2.0 1.0 1.5313* .5612 .029 .128 2.934

3.0 .0313 .3065 .995 -.735 .798

3.0 1.0 1.5000* .5562 .031 .109 2.891

2.0 -.0313 .3065 .995 -.798 .735

*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

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The author refers this discrepancy to the likely broader exposure of

postgraduate participants, as compared to other educational categories. Such exposure

has possibly extended their awareness of the role of other elements towards the city’s

imageability, which has contributed to diversifying their choices more evenly.

On the contrary, Fig. 16 suggests a balanced distribution of element selection

per attained education in ‘New Cairo’, except for the apparent difference in the choice

of university degree holders to landmarks as compared to edges for example.

However, the ANOVA test showed this difference to be statistically insignificant.

Fig. 15. Cross-tabulations for

education vs. selected



education vs. selected


Just as in the cross-tabulations against attained education, the apparent

difference in choices made by higher and middle-income groups in ‘Historic Cairo’ –

Fig. 17 concluded to be insignificant. On the other hand, the more balanced choices in

‘New Cairo’ are also clear in Fig. 18 and are confirmed by the low significance of the

ANOVA test. Again, choices made by low income groups have totally disregarded

edges, which calls for future investigation as suggested earlier in this research.

Once more, the apparent difference of element choices in relation to familiarity

with ‘Historic Cairo’ as seen in Fig. 19 showed to be insignificant. However, it is clear

from the sample profile that almost half of the sample do not visit ‘Historic Cairo’ so

often. This could be a reason why they tended to choose famous buildings and

landmarks that build more on their general knowledge rather than their direct


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experience with the area. This interpretation can also apply to the minor difference in

participants’ familiarity with ‘New Cairo’ as shown in Fig. 20, where the vast majority

of the sample either lived in ‘New Cairo’ or visited it often. This has concluded to

more even distribution to their chosen elements, except for the edges as discussed

above. However, the ANOVA test concluded that none of the differences is of

statistical significance.


average monthly income vs.

selected elements in

‘Historic Cairo’.


average monthly income


in ‘New Cairo’. .


Familiarity vs. selected



Familiarity vs. selected


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14. CONCLUSION

The present study was meant to explore empirically how people prioritise the

elements of city image in historic and modern urban settlements – as applied to Cairo,

Egypt. Lynch is a key-figure in environmental design and behavioural studies, whose

work is highly credible and widely used in recent research-work. Therefore, the study

builds on his five main elements of city image [2].

First, the model in-study was introduced briefly together with its theoretical

backgrounds. The empirical research design was then outlined to pave the way for the

subsequent analyses and discussions.

The scope of the study addressed ‘Historic Cairo’ as defined by Law 119/2008,

and ‘New Cairo’ as defined by Presidential Decree number 191/2000. The overall

sample involved 74 participants of different genders, age groups, average monthly

income and educational backgrounds.

Statistical analyses of the purpose-designed questionnaire showed that

landmarks had the highest frequency in both contexts, whether as a first choice, in

overall frequency or with the assignment of relative weights. On the other hand, edges

came least in ‘Historic Cairo’, and nodes came least in ‘New Cairo’. This also applies

on the basis of first selection, overall frequency and when relative weights are

considered. Thus, the assumption of importance based on earlier mentions showed to

be reasonably validated, and could be cautiously used in the undertaken analyses.

Despite some apparent differences in the selections made by particular sub-

groups in cross tabulation tests, the only significant differences detected by ANOVA

test was between the choice of secondary degree holders to landmarks from their

selection to other elements in ‘Historic Cairo’ p = 0.029. The same applies to

university degree holders, whose choice of landmarks yielded to a significance factor

of p = 0.031.

It is recommended that future research investigates why edges had less

importance to particular sub-groups in ‘Historic Cairo’, and why nodes were less

important to the imageability of ‘New Cairo’, as per different participant-groups.


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Lynch argued that these elements are interconnected parts, whose holistic

syntheses may create the vivid and unified image of a city [2]. Therefore, the excessive

choice to one element “landmarks”, and the exclusion of others “edges and nodes”

might not be in favour of the overall city’s imageability.

The present study suggests that urban livability can be one possible factor. In

Lynch’s terms, people tend to remember the elements they have ‘experience’ with. If,

for example, people encounter some memorable experiences in particular buildings /

places, they are likely to influence their perceived significance “e.g. landmarks here”.

Thus, a better city image can be realised by promoting more lively activities /

experiences in the less memorable elements “e.g. edges and nodes”, so that they

become more influential in people’s perception to the image of the city. This can be an

important step towards improving the ‘experience’ of the whole city, and promoting

the poetic and symbolic meanings that Lynch referred to, so that people would

associate all kinds of elements with their integral image of the city.

For that Lynch’s model is principally meant to analyse and improve the visual

forms of cities, it is important that architects, urban designers and city planners

consider these findings in their forthcoming designs, so that people can effortlessly

perceive and navigate their urban landscapes, hence realising a more harmonious,

legible, and imageable built environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Author extends his sincere acknowledgement to Dr. Amgad Fahmi and to

Arch. Sarah Abou Ali for their kind support with technical issues. Thanks are also due

to those who have participated in the survey, and helped with extending the sample.

REFERENCES

1. Heyessen, T., “Kevin Andrew Lynch: Individual Notables in Planning in the US

and Abroad”, München: GRIN Publishing, 2015.

2. Lynch, K., “The Image of the City”, 25th edition [first published in 1960]

Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997.

3. Damayanti, R., “Extending Kevin Lynch’s Theory of Imageability through an

Investigation of Kampungs in Surabaya, Indonesia”, Ph.D. thesis, UK: University

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of Sheffield, 2015.

4. Rosenbloom, S. (ed.), “Celebrating the Legacy of Kevin Lynch”, Journal of

American Planning Association, Vol. 84, No. 3-4, 2018

5. Sidanin, P., “On Lynch’s and Post-lynchians’ Theories”, Architecture and Civil

Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 61-69, 2007.

6. Ashmore, N., “Do the Original Elements by Kevin Lynch on Community Design

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22. National Organisation for Urban Harmony. Law 119/2008, available at:

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9-1-2011.pdf, (Accessed 10 November 2018), 2008.

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27. Link to the Online Questionnaire Survey used in the study:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecZ1PB1F0AysSoGsSCa89Q6exv

5fPzV8YyVLBQn1PkO6lwA/viewform?usp=sf_link

دينة : تدقيق األولوية بين القاهرة التاريخية والقاهرة الجديدةللم هنيةعناصر الصورة الذ

يقدم البحث استطالع أولويات السكان فى ترتيب عناصر الصورة الذهنية للمدينة كما حددها كيفن من سكان القاهرة حيث تم 74الينش، بالنسبة لكل من القاهرة التاريخية والقاهرة الجديدة بعينه من

هى األولوية األولى فى ادراك الناس لصورة landmarks ) (لإلجابات وتبين أن المعالمكمى ل الالتحليهى األقل تأثيرا في الصورة الذهنية للقاهرة التارخية ، ) edges (المنطقتين وفى حين كانت الحواف

بالنسبة لصورة القاهرة الجديدة ، وبهذا فإن تلك النتائج هى األقل تأثيرا ) nodes (وكانت نقاط االلتقاء والمطورين المحليين فى تطوير البيئة العمرانية بشكل أكثر تناسبا مع أولويات السكان.تفيد المصممين

http://urbanharmony.org/download/pdf/SLAMIC%20CAIRO%20boundries%2019-1-2011.pdf

http://urbanharmony.org/download/pdf/SLAMIC%20CAIRO%20boundries%2019-1-2011.pdf

https://whc.unesco.org/document/120189

http://www.newcities.gov.eg/know_cities/New_Cairo/default.aspx

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecZ1PB1F0AysSoGsSCa89Q6exv5fPzV8YyVLBQn1PkO6lwA/viewform?usp=sf_link

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecZ1PB1F0AysSoGsSCa89Q6exv5fPzV8YyVLBQn1PkO6lwA/viewform?usp=sf_link

prioritising the elements in historic - journal of engineering

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